Is the snooze button bad for you?

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Relying on your snooze button may be doing you more harm than good, experts say.

Story highlights

Hitting the snooze button may make you less alert and productive

It's a phenomenon known as "sleep inertia"

Try going to bed earlier to combat chronic sleep deprivation

Beep, beep, beep. Nothing pushes my buttons quite like that irritating sound coming from my bedside alarm clock in the morning. Luckily, my ticker comes with a snooze feature. Just one tap and I buy myself another nine minutes of slumber.

The rumor: Slapping the snooze button actually makes you more sleepy

I've always assumed that those extra snooze-induced minutes of rest are good for me. But recently I've heard they're not helpful -- in fact, it's said hitting the snooze button can actually make me more tired throughout the day. Is it true?

"First, you're fragmenting what little extra sleep you're getting so it is of poor quality. Second, you're starting to put yourself through a new sleep cycle that you aren't giving yourself enough time to finish. This can result in persistent grogginess throughout the day."

Scientists have identified the culprit behind this stupor that's brought on by a too-brief slumber: sleep inertia. The National Sleep Foundation defines this state as "the feeling of grogginess and disorientation that can come from awakening from a deep sleep."

It slows down your decision-making abilities, impairs your memory and hurts your general performance once you do get out of bed. Even worse, coffee and a cold shower can't combat it: It can take up to an hour and a half to shake off sleep-inertia grogginess.

According to Rosenberg, that's because the snooze button messes with your brain hormones. "You're throwing off your circadian cycle," he says. Disrupting the circadian cycle can impair your ability to feel awake during the day and sleepy at night.

If hitting the snooze button isn't the key to better sleep, what is? Rosenberg has a few suggestions to help you stay alert and refreshed:

Turn in earlier, consistently. Rosenberg suggests going to bed a half-hour earlier than you have been. Over time, he says, this will reduce your overall sleep deprivation. And if it doesn't? Turn in an hour earlier.

Banish computers from the boudoir. Devices like smartphones, digital tablets and laptops emit blue light that hurts your sleep. "The exposure to blue-light-emitting devices results in a delay in melatonin production," says Rosenberg. So give yourself a tech curfew: Turn off those electronics 90 minutes before lights out to help promote sounder sleep.

Make mornings a scavenger hunt. If you're still having trouble getting up, hide the alarm from your groggy early-morning self. "Put that alarm clock where you can't reach it," Rosenberg advises. That search to put an end to the annoying beeping sound is sure to foil your desire to sneak in more Z's. It may seem silly, but it's doctor-approved.